The Department of Social Work at Mississippi Valley State University began in 1972 under the official title of Family and Community Service Program. The program was designed to meet the needs of human services agencies in the Mississippi Delta and beyond. It offered the Bachelor of Arts degree in Family and Community Services with emphasis in Social Work. The program has been accredited by the Council on Social Work Education since 1978. In order to maintain its focus on Social Work, as well as the accreditation status, it changed the name of the degree from Bachelor of Arts degree in Family and Community Services to Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) degree. Since the beginning, it has always stood for academic excellence.
The program has an active role in linking students with various graduate social work programs at other universities. The program is very committed to providing support to local social service delivery systems through faculty and student involvement in community and professional activities, like, organizing an Annual Social Work Conference at Mississippi Valley State University (MVSU), professional training workshops, and lobbying at the state capitol in support of social work issues. Social work faculty is sensitive to students’ professional and personal needs, and provides academic counseling and referral services to students.